Improvement in quilting-machines



3 Sheets--Sheet 1.

' A. sicu. Quilting-Machines.

Patented Sept. 8,1874.

wlTNEssEs.`

Acamv.

` .SShe'ts--Sheetf A. BEUR'. Quilting-Machines,

Patented Sept. 8,1874.

` KHE GRAPHN MLFHUTU-UTHASS &4l PARK PLACEJLYA v OFFICE.

AUGUST BECK, or New. YORK, N. Y.

llinPRovlnllENT IN QUILTING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,327, dated September S, 1874; application filed February 16, 1874.

To'all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, AUGUST BECK, of the city, county, and State of New York, have in- "5 vented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines f or Quilting Fabrics, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to that-class of sew; in g-machines especially adapted to quilt goods,

and employing a gang of needles for, making,

` simultaneously, a number of parallel rows of stitches in the goods. The invention is comi y y prised incertain improvements in the con- "struction and arrangement of the several parts ofthe machine, whereby said parts are the more readilymade awnd fitted and assembled together in the machine.v

y The nature of these improvements can best be explainedby'reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis aside elevation of a machine embodying`myimprovements. Fig.- 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a ver` tical section of the sewing mechanism proper,

in a plane at right angles with the plane of the gang of needles. The remaining figures represent details'hereinafter referred to.

The sewing and other devices are supported by a main frameworkA. The metallic frame B, that supports the sewing mechanism proper, rests on .top ofthe frame A, and is bolted thereto. Motion is imparted to Vall parts of the machine from thevmain driving-'shaft C, which is'actuated by suitable power, and is provided with a pulley, I), connected, by aloose belt, E, with the crank-wheel F of the' sewing mechanism. The belt is tightened at will, so as to impart movement to the wheel F by a bell-crank lever, G, carrying on one end a flanged pulley, H, and on the other end a handle, ."I, by `which the lever may be vibrated' to cause the pulley to press against the belt and so tighten it. The lower arm of lever G is connected by a jointed rod, J, with a le-ever-brake, K, pivotedbetween its two lextremities. to the frame A, and provided on its upperend with a friction-pad, which, when thel lever ismoved to tighten the belt, is drawn away from the periphery of wheel F. When thel-belt is loosened by removing from it the pressure'of the tightening-pulley, the frictionpad. will4 bear against wheel F.'v The' lever G lis held normally away from the belt, this being effected by a spring, L. In lieu of, or in Aaddition to, the handle I, the lever may be connected by a jointed connecting-rod, M, with a treadle, N, so that it can be operated by the foot as well as the hand of the workman. The

frame A also carries in bearings the spindles Lupon which are wound the fabric to be quilted,

movementof the fabric is in the direction of the arrow 1. The movement is eected by the feeding devices of the sewing mechanism, and thenpper spindle P is revolved in the proper direction to take up the material by means of a comparatively loose belt, It, passing from a pulley on driving-shaft C to a pulley on' the spindle. The beltwill revolve the spindle only so much as necessary to take up. the cloth fed along by the feeding devices.

I now proceed to describe that portion of. Vthe machine in which my invention is more particularly embraced.

The metallic frame B, that supports the sewing and feeding devices, is shown more in detail, and on an enlarged scale, in Fig. 3. It.

consists of two triangular end pieces, by and between which are supported the shafts, crossbars, 8vo., which hold and give movement to the various devices. Upon a horizontal crossbar, a, bolted to end pieces B, are placed the heads which carry the needles, needle bars or:

stocks, and presser-feet.

In the machinerepresented in the drawing there are some thirty distinct and independent sewing mechanisms formaking a single-y thread stitch, and each mechanism is like the others, so that a description of one will answer for all.

The head b, that receives and supports the Vneedle and presser-foot, is made, as shown in Fig. 3, with a rectangular or other shapedA opening throughit from side to side to t the, correspondingly-shaped cross-bar a.v The slot can be slightly deeper than the cross-bar, so

that the head may move readily on the bar when in course of adjustment thereon.' After` being brought to the proper position, the head can be secured by inserting in the slot, either above or below the bar, a wedge-piece or key, which will hold it tightly and securely in place. In the head, on one side of the slot, are formed the bearings for the presser-bar c, and on the other side of the slotare the bearings for the needle-bar d.

The presser-bar and needle-bar are capable of vertical play, as in the ordinary sewing- Inachines, and the presser-bar is provided with the usual spring.

This construction of the head, which brings the presser-bar behind the needle-bar, and one bar on each side of the slot in the head,`is ad! vantageous, as economising room, and locating each bar where it may be most conveniently operated. The vslotting of the head is a means whereby the head, or whole series of heads, can be most readily slipped onto the cross bar, and adjusted and held thereon. Each presser bar has, projecting rearward from its head, a horizontall fin ger, c', which projects over a lifting-bar, e, which consists of a dat plate or bar extending the width of the machine, 'and' provided at its extremities with journals that are supported and can turn in' bearings in the frame. The lifting-bar is also provided at one end with a handle, e. When the bar is turned, so that one of its flat faces "is uppermost, then the presser-feet will rest on the cloth-plate; but when the bar is turned,

so as to bring one of its edges uppermost, as.

seen in Fig. 3, the presser-feet will thereby .be elevated from the cloth-plate. s The cloth-plate is represented at f. It extends the width of the machine, is of suitable breadth, and is perforated at the proper points for the passage of the several needles. Reciprocating movement is imparted to each needle-bar by means of a connecting-rod, g, pivoted at one end to the head of the bar, and at the other end to a crank-arm, h, formed on or attached to a short sleeve, h', which lits on the rock-shaft S, and is held thereto in proper position by a set or tightening screw, t'.

It will be thus seen that each sewing mechanism, so far as relates to that part of it above the cloth-plate, consists of a slotted head, b, a presser-bar and needle-bar carried by that head, and arranged as above described, a con- V necting-rod, g, and a crank-arm, h, and sleeve h, which latter is adjusted and fitted on its shaft in a manner similar to that in which the head is tted and adjusted on its cross-bar.v Each of these organizations is thus independent of, and separate from, the others, and can be removed or adjusted at pleasure.

The rock-shaft gets its movement from the crank-wheel F through the intermediary of a connecting-rod Sl 'oi'nted at one end to a vis a'view of the hook and its actuating mechanism detached, the bracket being represented in horizontal section. On the end of the neck `which projects from the side ofthe bracket opposite to the hook, is a pinion, k. TheV whole series of hooks thus arranged are driven from a' single shaft, V, which derives its rotary motion from revolving crank-Wheel F lixed on one of its ends. Upon shaft V are 'fixed driving-pinions l, one for each hook, `which mesh in with the respective pinions k,-

opposite which they are placed. Fig. 5 represents a side elevation (with shaft V in section) of one set of pinions, 7c l. Each.

Vbracket extends up in contact with the under side of the cloth-plate, so that the latter may throughout its be well supported and upheld whole extent.

The feeding of the goods is eected by two feeding-rolls, m m', extending the width of the machine, and supported by the frame B.

The rolls are'placed vertically one over the other, and their line of contact is in the plane of the cloth-plate, in rear of which plate they are located. Theunder roll m has a corrugated lor ronghened surface, and is supported in stationary bearings in the frame B. The

upper roll m has an elastic surface formed of vulcanized india-rubber, or its equivalent, and is supported in bearings in the rear .ends of bent lever-arms W, one for each ex;

tremity of Vthe roll. Each lever is pivoted independently of the other at a suitable point,

n, to frame B, and its front end is attached` to a spiral spring, o, secured at its other end to a projecting portion of frame B, as seen in Fig. 3. This spring tends to draw up the front end of the pivoted lever-arm, and so depress the opposite end, consequently holding the upper feed-roll down upon the lower with a yielding pressure. By supporting the ends of theupper roll in independent-lever-arms, the one end of the roll may rise more or less than the other, thus allowing the feed-roll to accommodate itself to irregularities in the thickness in the quilted goods in the direction of the width of the same. In order that the lupper roll may be kept raised away from the lower roll, there may be provided opposite the front end of each lever a post, X, with ahorizontal pivoted linger or catch, X, which, when said front end is lowered, may be swung overv the end so as to retain it, as indicated by dot-` ted lines in Fig. 3. The two feed-rolls are geared together as indicated in Fig. 6, which is a side elevation of the feed devices detachd',".

and the-upper one derives motion from the lower one. The lower roll m is actuated in the following manner, referring to Fig'. 6 and to Fig. 7, which is a planof the parts shown in Fig. 6. Upon'one of the journals of the lower roll, and exterior to the pinion that meshes with the pinion of the upper roll, is fixed a ratchet-wheel, p. 0n the same axis is mounted an arm,`q, capable of vibrating on the `,same as its center. This arm, shown clearly'in Fig. 6, extends toward the front of the machine, Vso that its-front end will project over a cam, r, on the extremity of revolving shaft Y. Said end is held down in contact with the cam by a spring, g.- The arm also carries a hinged spring-pawl, i", which engages theratchet. The rotation of the cam will give a vibrating rising and falling motion to the arm, which will cause the pawl to intermittingly rotate the ratchet-wheel, thus givingan intermittent rotary-movement to the :feed-rolls. rlhis movement is of course properly timed with that ofthe needles. The extentof movement of the ratchet at each reciprocation of the pawl will be governed by thesize of the cam, by changing which the feed may vbe varied at pleasure. Each needle has its own thread, spool, and tension. The spools can be arranged on any suitable part of the machine.VA In this instance they are on an upright extension of frame A, as indicated at s in'Figs. 1and2.

The tension devices are all attached to a horizontal tension-supporting bar, t, carried upon a projecting portion of frame B, as seen in Fig. 3, and extending the width of the machine. Eachtensiondevice consists of rod lv, fast to and projecting rearwardly from the bar t. The rod near rear end is perforated,

as at c', and it also carries a clasp, w, through which thethread passes, and which can be rotated to wind the thread more or less as desired around the rod. At the point where each red is located" an eye is formed in or on the tension-supporting bar, as indicated in Fig. 2 at and by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The thread from the spool passes rst through eye x, from the front to rear, then through clasp w and hole c', and then to the needlehead b. The course of the thread is indicated plainly in Fig. 3. Each head b of course is provided with the usual take-up, such` as found,- for instance, on the ordinary Willcox & Gibbs sewing-m achine. up will answer.

n What I claim, and desire to secure by Leters Patent, is-

l. In aquilting-machine, a series of independent slotted heads, each-carrying a presser bar or foot and a needlebar, arranged on dpposite sides of the slot' in the head, as de-` scribed, in combination with a single crossbar, on which all of the heads are mounted and tted, in the manner and for the purposes shown and set forth. Y

2. The series of independent slotted heads, carrying each a presser-bar and a needle-bar, and mounted on a single cross-bar, as described, in combinationwith the rock-shaft locatedV above the same, andthe series of sleeves, crank-arms, and connecting-rods, one for each head connected with and .operating their respective `needle-bars, in the manner shown and set forth. i

3. The upper feed-roll m, incombination Awith independently-pivoted leverarms W, and the detents or catches X,`arranged as shown and set forth. j

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 14th day of February, A. D. 1874.

' AUGUST BEGK.

Witnesses: Y

B. ATHON,

vW. S. DEHART.

Any suitable take- 

